What does it take to get some peace and quiet for the weekend? Charlie (John Voth) would prefer if nobody spoke to him for the entire weekend, and his friend Froggy devises a plan to make that happen. Froggy (Ryan Scramstad), who has brought Charlie to Betty’s fishing lodge, tells her that Charlie doesn’t speak any English, and nobody should speak to him because he’s ashamed of the fact that he doesn’t understand.
Instead of peace and quiet, Charlie gets Betty (Erla Faye Forsyth) yelling slowly at him as if this will help him understand, Catherine (Kaitlin Williams) telling him all her secrets because he makes a great listener, and Owen (Byron Noble) insulting him because he finds it amusing.
Betty’s lodge is run down and at risk of being condemned by Owen, the property inspector, and Catherine and her fiancé David (Mack Gordon) are planning to buy the place from her using Catherine’s inheritance. Charlie quickly learns that some people are not what they seem, and finds it hard to keep up the farce.
The funniest moments of the play are between Charlie and Ellard (Peter Carlone), Catherine’s younger, less intelligent brother. Ellard takes on the task of teaching Charlie English, and everyone is surprised how quickly he learns. There is one hilarious scene with Ellard and Charlie eating breakfast and Charlie begins to mimic what Ellard is doing. Soon, they are dancing around the living room with cups on their heads, and Betty thinks this must be a custom from Charlie’s culture.
Charlie’s storytelling in his native gibberish language solidified Voth’s performance as nothing less than extraordinary. Watching the way the other characters light up around the foreigner, it’s clear that Larry Shue’s award-winning play is a delightful exploration of our fascination with those who are different, and the way they can affect us.
When Charlie arrives at the lodge, he complains to Froggy that he is boring and wants to get himself a personality. Throughout his stay, he finds that pretending to be a foreigner gives him a unique personality and he becomes a lovable, exotic, quirky character, instead of just a boring proofreader.
Arts Club Theatre Company is touring Pacific Theatre’s production of The Foreigner around the Lower Mainland from February 18 – March 5. For more information, visit artsclub.com.
